Diabetes is one of the most common diseases in our society and even in the whole world. Each of us often encounters a diabetic patient in the family, friends, close people and acquaintances. Despite the spread of this disease among all groups and people getting used to it, it is one of the diseases that most affects the body and even destroys its organs if the disease is not remedied, and treated in the correct way and regularity in this treatment.
In this article, we will present the most important information and aspects related to diabetes, and how to identify it, which are:
- About diabetes.
- Symptoms of diabetes.
- How to diagnose diabetes.
- Types of diabetes.
- The importance of home examination with a diabetic internist.
About diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs as a result of the inability of the pancreas to produce insulin, the responsible hormone for controlling the level of sugar in the blood, in sufficient quantity, or when the body is unable to use the insulin it produces effectively. Therefore, diabetes is defined as the imbalance in how the body deals with digested food due to the inability of the pancreas to secrete the appropriate amount of insulin, in addition to the lack of effectiveness of this insulin, which makes the body unable to deliver sugar from the blood to the cells, and thus leads to high blood sugar levels.
What are the Diabetes types?
There are three kinds or types of diabetes that need regular check-ups, and these types are:
- Type 1 Diabetes: This type occurs as a result of the body’s inability to produce insulin, which means that people with this type must receive artificial insulin daily to maintain blood sugar levels and survive.
- Type 2 diabetes: This is one of the most common types of diabetes, as it affects the way the body uses insulin. Despite the body’s ability to produce the required insulin, the body’s cells do not respond to it the way they were before the disease.
- Gestational diabetes: This type may occur when the body becomes less sensitive to insulin in women during pregnancy, and its symptoms and effects usually end immediately after delivery.
Symptoms of diabetes
Although the symptoms of diabetes in its first and second types are very similar, some of them may be more distinctive and different for a certain group than the other, and the most important symptoms of diabetes in general are as follows:
- Extreme hunger: If you have diabetes, you may experience severe hunger as a result of the insulin hormone not being secreted in sufficient quantities in the body, so you are forced to expend more energy, and thus this leads to a feeling of extreme hunger.
- Fatigue and weakness: Since the cells have been deprived of glucose, and due to the body’s intense need for energy, the person feels tired, weak, and loses energy.
- Excessive thirst: Excess sugar in the bloodstream leads to an imbalance of fluids on the surfaces of cells, which leads to withdrawal of fluids within the tissues, thus increasing the feeling of thirst.
- Frequent urination: especially at night, as a result of feeling thirsty and excessive drinking, which increases the number of urination times.
- Blurry vision: High levels of sugar in the bloodstream lead to withdrawal of fluid from the lens of the eye, which affects the strength of focus and vision.
- Slow wound healing: Some affected individuals experience slow healing from wounds and other injuries.
- Frequent infections: as a result of high blood sugar, which causes a suitable environment for the growth and reproduction of microbes.
- Bad breath: This occurs as a result of the production of ketone bodies, as the body tends to burn fat as an alternative source of energy when glucose is not available in the cells, and as a side result of the fat metabolism process, it produces ketone bodies that cause bad breath.
- Weight loss: Despite eating and sometimes a lot, the body cannot get enough energy as a result of a lack of glucose, so it turns into glycogen and fat stores and uses them to produce energy, which results in weight loss.
- The appearance of dark spots in the skin: such as the neck or armpits, which may be evidence of insulin resistance in the body.
Diagnosis
Usually, a high level of sugar in the blood or in the urine is the means by which diabetes is detected, and this is usually done with a number of tests that are conducted to discover the presence of an increase in sugar levels above the normal range (70-120 mg / deciliter). Thus accurately diagnosing the infection.
The main screening tests for diabetes include:
- Random blood glucose check.
- Checking the level of glucose in the blood while fasting.
- Cumulative examination.
The importance of home examination with a diabetic internist
A home examination with an internist is the best way to make sure that a person suffers from diabetes and that he is receiving the correct treatment, as the internist can:
- Getting to know the patient, reviewing the reports, knowing his daily habits of work, nutrition and sports, and the efforts he exerts that may lead to diabetes.
- Examination of the patient and the necessary analyzes to indicate the early symptoms of diabetes and the correct diagnosis of the condition.
- Ensure that the treatment received by the patient and its doses (in case he was previously diagnosed and followed a specific treatment plan) is appropriate to the condition and degree of injury and works as required.
- Modify the plan and type of treatment when necessary.
Is it possible to get a home examination doctor?
At DoktorCare, we strive to improve the quality of home health care in Egypt, to meet all the needs of our valued patients, especially the elderly, chronic conditions and their families, and to ensure that they receive a medical home visit service for home examination and medical consultations of the highest quality and the best price, with a selection of the most skilled doctors in all specialties. Therefore, DoktorCare provides a distinguished group of internal medicine physicians for home detection and treatment of diabetes, and helping patients to cope with it, without the need for patients to go to doctors’ clinics, exert effort and time, and be exposed to infection, God forbid.
